SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 

FLM ' _ 

2015 
^ 118159 


THE'ANCIENT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO, JAPAN 


ROMYN HITCHCOCK. 


From the Report of the National Mnseuni for 1P90, pages 417-427 
(with Plates LXXIII). 


WASHINGTON; 


GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 






Class 

Book 












-af .** 







r P' ^ r' 7 W%"t«; 




!.,. ^'V-,'r ^ •% ■r''V if i;-i7s'^V • ■: ,:7;& 


2f’-* - ->« .• 




■ *T ' ■ ‘-.•r.'f V'-jf ■w,*''- ’•■ “’i*.'^'■ ’ ■"* 

■i',' ::.\ ^:-' 1 r ■ -. 'i-' -' 


• .-r* 


..■* ’ • ■» 

•fr . 


' ^ t , 

,, .. r .H y ‘ , 

*4 - ^ 


>;-. <: , -.V'- - ■■ > ■ ' ■• 




■ 

A. 


. *■ ifc ? 


N' • 

**C •* -J ^T«I. • ‘ ^ 


!• ♦ 

'\ 


. 

.'.% 


0 




*•# 




& 




■•. i^j'-v'tssy-- IM 

■% r y . ' -m ^ 




“‘ir 4 ' *■ j • 

r vt’' > • ' 



- < • ^ la.'- 







’ €•" ‘ •.'-- ? .i • #* . V 


• « < . ■ . 4 'J^ 

■ -■i^y\'y *^*‘Vav 


* «k! ^ ^ . ' ' # - . • '* . Ul^ 4 ^ftLp 4 i||flR 




> *% • < * '. 


-.^. 


- • - « f ; 




■< ■■ .-vr.-' JBiO! 

.r.' __. ■ y’ 

Hiir. 




. ..i: 





• u 


*■ • • ■■ ■3ft^/Vv/ ■ ^ •*;-‘■i’• » ■ ' . i' 

'"4'^* • v' ''■■ ■■ Jtu.iT-'’ ' •' •■'"X 




:/ • 


.,>•.■ ■■■■.. W'-./--"'-•v'H®;?' ■'. : • '■ V • .. 





i* 


■*. 


‘C'*- 


’V 


»% 








•> 4 .( ^i. . »l . *' * •'% 

X ,0 .... . ‘ ■ ’ 


‘' ■ -■ 


^ .«« 




'i 



, -I'.V 

. ■ V • - -k •>. • . ' ' • 

■ .'-, • - 4 . ' »■ ’■.. ,, 

» *r- .■ • ^ ^ ^ 



‘ ^ 'I . * 

J'A **’ ' * 

'-Ak 


.41 




4 






‘v* 

•f ^V ' ■ »..; . ■»' 


■ '-T i p-yvA 


!'\m 

w;,' fc'!! 

'-’ipjA'ff-i'"* 


.'■. -i'-: 

*f ' fL' ^ f .« *. T v’v’f\ 


'V-al 


* ^ . 

II ( . , 4 . ^-C' u 


. > # i / # 







SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 

UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM, 


THE ANCIENT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO, JAPAN. 


BY 


ROMYN HITCHCOCK. 


From ihe Report of the National Museum for 1890, pag-es 417-427 
(with Plates LXXIII). 


O t ) y 
> > •> -5 

O ) ) ^ 

* O > t> 

* j i y 


^ y y-y 
/> > »' 
) ) ) ’ 



WASHINGTON: 


GOVERNMKNT PRINTING OFFICE. 



/ 


'3 





ft 


Gr lY 3 5 



S 


OCT 15 p04 

D.ofD 


f ‘ - c # c 

c i ' c 

1 ^ ,i r it- 

<• c t < f « 

C 1 ( o < 


t < ‘ < C < 

, t < * < 

t < c < < c 

C < ' t c 

i I < < < < 


< 

<- 

( 

c 


< t < 


<i«'C ( ccc 

^ f. K « 

c <. <> c r K 

< * c « 

t < < < < # 


f 

c 

< 


o 



c « t 
< 

( < 
( 

C (■ c 






C 4 
<• 

< < 

i 


( 


< 

< 

( 


19 


C 


I 


'4 

« * 





r 


5 

CO 


THE ANCIENT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO. 


By Romyn Hitchcock. 


rn 


cn 


When the first Emperor of Japan, known by the posthnmos title 
Jimmn Tenno, whose traditional reign began 6G0 B. C., was on his im¬ 
perial journey eastward from ancient Tsukiishi, to establish the seat 
of government in Yamato, he came to a great “ cave” or apartment”, 
in which eighty tsuchi-gumo or cave-dwelling savages were awaiting 
him. The word tsuchi-gumo is usually translated “earth-spiders,” but 
Prof. B. H. Chamberlain regards it as a corruption of tsuchi-gomori, or 
“ earth-hiders.” Whatever the original meaning may have been, there 
can be no doubt that it was applied to a savage people, who inhabited \ 
Japan before the coming of the Japanese. 

The ancient records of the Japanese contain many allusions to these 
dwellers in caves, or dwellers under ground. In the reign of the Em¬ 
peror Keiko two Kumaso braves were killed in a cave by Yamato-take. 
The Empress Jingo Kogo was wrecked among tsuchi-gumo. They are 
said to have been numerous in Bungo and in other western provinces, 
in Omi, in Yamato, and in other localities. 

The character of their dwellings is not clearly defined, owing to the 
ambiguous meaning of the Chinese character translated “cave.” In 
certain parts of Japan natural caves are numerous, but they are not 
common throughout the country. Artificial caves are not uncommon, 
but I have endeavored to show, in an article treating of ancient Japa¬ 
nese burial customs, read before section H of the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science at Toronto in 1889, that such caves 
were constructed for interment of the dead and not for dwellings. 
Still other structures, chambers made by piling up huge rocks and 
heaping up mounds of earth to cover them, are also numerous in 
southern Japan, and these have been designated as caves by von 
Siebold, rather carelessly it seems to me. But these also were only 
burial chambers. Granting that mere opinions concerning such a 
subject are not of much value, I would only add that until some stronger 
evidence than von Siebold has adduced gives color to the idea that the 
early inhabitants of Japan lived in true caves, 1 hold that their dwell¬ 
ings were more jirobably of the character of the i)it-dwellings to be 
described in this article. It is true we do not find the ruins of such 

417 

H. Mis. 129, pt. 2-27 










418 


REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 


dwellings in the south, although they are numerous in Yezo. This is 
doubtless because all such ruins have been destroyed in the more popu¬ 
lous island, where ev^ery available plot of ground has long been under 
cultivation. 

The fact is not to be overlooked, however, that the idea of cave life 
was familiar to the ancient Japanese. The well-known myth of the 
sun goddess, who retired into a cave and closed the entrance with a 
stone, is significant of the truth of this assumption. It is not unlikely 
that the idea came from China and that true cave life was never prac¬ 
ticed in Japan. ^ 



Eig. 64. 

There are still other people mentioned in the Japanese records, dis¬ 
tinguished as Ebisu or hairy savages, who were contemporaneous with 
the earth-hiders. It is not difficult to recognize in these the ancestors 
of the Ainos, who are now conffned to Yezo. Not only is the historic 
evidence clear that the Ainos once lived in the main island as far south 
as Sendai, but we have numerous facts in support of the further con- 
Clpsion that, in more ancient times, they occupied the coast as far south, 

















































THE ANCIEITT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO. 


419 


as the extreme end of Kiiishiu. Such evidence we find in the distribu¬ 
tion of geographical place-names, which are obviously of Aino origin, 
in the names of famous characters in Japanese mythology, which are 
certainly of Aino derivation, and in the contents of kitchen-middens or 
shell-heaps, which are numerous here and there along the coast. 

The writer has briefly summarized the evidence of Aino occupancy of 
Japan in the paper following this one. The character of the pot¬ 
tery found in the shell-heaps is entirely different from any pottery 
made by the ancient Japanese. The material is the same as that 
of the Japanese sepulchral pottery, but the shapes of the vessels are 
not the same and the decoration upon them is absolutely distinctive. 
Strange as it may seem, the pottery of the shell-heaps is far more elab¬ 
orately decorated than any ancient pottery of Japanese origin. 

Plate Lxxiii shows a number of specimens from the large collection of 
jNI. PAbbe Furet,of Hakodate, which I was very kindly permitted to pho¬ 
tograph. Many of these are covered with complex designs, such as are 
absolutely unknown on Japanese pottery. The small fragments repre- 
senting ])artsof human figures are, so far as I am aware, unique. Owing 
to the absence from home of the collector, I was unable to learn any¬ 
thing about them. 



The ancient Japanese pottery comes from burial mounds which are' 
prehistoric, or at least which date from a time before the year A. D. 
400, when the authentic records of Japan begin. The pottery of the 
shell-heaps, often designated as Aino pottery,although more elaborately 
decorated, must be older than this, and it would seem to afford indis¬ 
putable evidence that the Japanese were preceded by an aboriginal 
people, who were potters. We find the same kind of pottery in Yezo, 
in the shell-heaps at Otaru, near Sapporo, on the small island Benten- 
jima, in Nernuro harbor, about ancient pits in Kushiro, and about sim¬ 
ilar places on the Island of Yeterof. Associated with it everywhere 
are found arrow-heads and other implements, such as may be found 
scattered over many parts of Yezo in the surface mold at the present 
day. 

The question then arises, to what people shall we attribute this spoill 
It has been supposed that the shell mounds were left by the Ainos. 
This is the opinion of Prof. John Milne. But we immediately come face 
to face with the fact that the Ainos of the present day do not make pot¬ 
tery. The claim is made, upon rather insufficient ground it seems to me, 
that the Ainos formerly did make pots ; but if so, it is strange that in 
all my journeying among them I found no indications of such handi¬ 
work, nor of their need of such utensils. I cannot bring myself to be¬ 
lieve that a people who not only possessed that useful art, but who also 
acquired such a degree of artistic skill in decorating their productions, 
could have absolutely lost it. Certainly it could not have disappeared 
within a century, as we must suppose if we accept all the evidence we 
possess of Aino pot making. 





420 


REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 


^ It would be a bold assumption indeed to suppose that the dwellers 
in earth houses, the tsuchi gumo^ made the pottery. We have no evi¬ 
dence of this further than the fact that here and there trag^ments of 
pottery, and occasionally well-preserv ed vessels, are found about pits in 
Yezoand Yeterof, which, as I shall eudeav^orto show, are probably the 
ruins of a kind of pit-dwellings corresponding, in the opinion ot the 
present writer, to those of the traditional tsuchirgumo. The pottery is 
there, and it assuredly was not made by the Japanese. It may be much 
older than we think, older than the Aiuo occupancy; older than even 
the traditions of the Japanese. Whoever were the people who made 
it, they spread over the whole country from southern Kiushiu to the 
bleak shores of Yezo and the adjacent islands. 

^"^ho were the pit dwellers of Yezo? I have supposed them to be 
the tsuchi-gumo of traditioi], but our only knowledge concerning these 
is found in the Japanese accounts, unreliable enough, but at the 
same time iiot without some bearing on the question. For one would 
scarcely expect such circumstantial and numerous accounts of meetings 
and combats with dwellers in burrows or caves to be pure inventions. 
The word “cave” trauslated means “apartment.” They were not cave- 
tlwellers in the ordinary sense, for in nearly all the accounts of the peo¬ 
ple they seem to have lived in holes dug in the ground. AVe have the 
less reason to doubt this, since it is known that the Smelenkur of Sag- 
halin construct earth-covered dwellings on the sides of hills, notin any 
sense caves, and houses of another form will shortly be described which 
ma}, with still more probability, represent the dwellings of tlie tniichi- 
gumo. 

Mr. T. W. Blakistou first brought promiuently into notice certain re¬ 
markable depressions or pits in the ground which he had observed 
in various parts of Yezo, and which he believed to be the remains of 
human habitations. J n the summer of 1888 I made an extended journey 
in the island, covering a distance of more than 800 miles on horseback, 
visiting the Aiuos and always looking for pits. The pits are numerous in 
places, usually on elev^ated laud near the coast, or ov^erlookiugthe mouths 
of rivers, presumably that the people might readily sight shoals of fish. 
The island known as Benteujima, which forms a breakwater to Nemuro 
harbor, is covered with numerous jiits. Plate Lxxiv shows the town as 
seen from the residence of Mrs. H. Carpenter, a most devoted missionary, 
and the only foreign resident. The island is seen on the left. Just back 
of the three sheds or storehouses bordering on the water, where the 
bank is falling away, there is a small line of white, indicating the re¬ 
mains of a shell-mound. It was at this spot that Prof. John Milne, in 
1881, found some fragments of pottery, se>reral arrow-heads, and one 
complete vase. I was only able to find a few broken shells, not having 
the means with me for digging. 

About 4 miles from Nerauro, in a northeasterly direction, on a bluff 
overlooking the sea, near the mouth of a small stream, there are seven 
pits, approximately square iu shape, varying iu length front 10 to 20 


Report of National Museum, 1890.—Hitchcock, 


PLATE LXXllI 



Ancient Pottery from M. l’Abbe Furet Collection. 






















THE ANCIENT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO. 


421 


feet. They are not well preserved, but it was thought worth while to 
dig a treucii across one of them in the hope of liiiding some pottery or 
arrow-heads. The trench was dug two feet wide down to a stratum of 
clay, but nothing was found. 

On the island of Yeterof there are many hundred of such pits on ele¬ 
vated knolls some distance from the coast, but overlooking a broad 
valley, through which a stream meanders for a long distance nearly 
parallel to the coast. It seemed to me quite possible that at the time 
the dwellings represented by these pits were inhabited, the present river 
valley was an immense arm of the sea, and a rich fishing-ground. It 
was about these pits that Mr. Blakiston says fragments of pottery were 
picked up. I was therefore quite anxious to explore one of them with 
a spade, and leaving my companions, Mr. Leroux and Mr. Odium, I set 
oft* in search for a habitation. After a long walk I found an Aino hut 
occupied by an old woman, and there obtained a dilapidated old Jap¬ 
anese instrument which was used for digging. It was the best the 
country afforded, so I carried it back and we dug over the whole bottom 
of the pit, and also in several places outside, without finding a single 
article to reward us. We made some measurements of the pits in the 
vicinity, which were large and well preserved. Two pits gave the fol¬ 
lowing results: 


Southeast and 

Northeast and 

Depth. 

northwest. 

southwest. 

Metres. 

Metres. 

Centimetres. 

4 

3.8 

53 

4 

4.5 

73 


Although I have not yet found a single piece of pottery, nor a chipped 
flint in any pit where I have dug, it does not follow that nothing of the 
kind is to be found about them. Other explorers have been more for¬ 
tunate. The most promising locality for such explorations is at Kushiro, 
on the southeast coast of Yezo. Only want of the necessary time pre¬ 
vented me from digging about the pits there. In walking over the 
ground I picked up several small bits of old pottery which the rains had 
washed out, and the Japanese local officers showed me a small collec¬ 
tion of vessels, tolerably well preserved, which had been found there. 
Some of the Kushiro pits are very large. I measured one, which was 
32 feet across and b feet deep. 

The Ainos have a tradition concerning a race of dwellers under 
ground called Icoro-polc guru, who formerly occupied the country. The 
Ainos claim to have subdued and exterminated them. We have no 
means of knowing whether this is a genuine tradition, or a late inven¬ 
tion to explain the existence of the pits. Presuming it to be the for¬ 
mer, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the Aino account of dwarfs, 
who lived under ground, and the Japanese tales of earth spiders or 












422 


REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 


tsnchi-gumOj refers to the same people. In the light of the observations 
related further on, it would also seem j)robable that the i)its of Yezo 
are the ruins of the dwellings onee occupied by them, now affording 
landmarks whereby we may trace the migrations of a once numerous 
l)eople to their disappearance and oblivion. 

In the year 1878 Prof. John Milne* visited Shumushu or Peroi Island, 
the most northern of the Kuriles. There, at the village of Myrup, he 
found a small colony of migratory i)eople who made huts over excava¬ 
tions. His account of them is short. He writes: 

Here there Avere three wooden lionses which had been built by the Russians, and 
quite a number (perhaps a score) of lialf uuder^rouud dwellings. Ou landing we 
found that all these were deserted, and in many cases even difficult to find, owing to 
the growth of wormwood and wild grasses. 

The inhabitants of the island, who call themselves Knrilsky, are twenty-three in 
in number. They chiefly live at a place called Seleno, about! miles distant. I men¬ 
tion these people, as they seem to be the only inhabitants of the Kuriles north of 
Itnrnp (Yeterof). 

ST 

It appears that the dwellers iu the deserted houses were migratory. 
Professor Miliie has elsewhere declared that ‘Hhese excavations have 
a striking resemblance to the pits which we find further south.” 

A Japanese author, Mr. Y. Hashiba, has published a description of 
some ])eculiar dwellings built over pits, which he found in Shonai, on 
the west coast of the northern part of the main island of Japan. 
I am indebted to Mr. P. Jaisohn for a partial translation of this arti 
cle, which is written in Japanese. There are two huts, built over 
circular pits about 1 foot in depth by 2 to 3 yards in diameter. 
The framework of one is of reeds, that of the other of branches, 
over which there is a covering of earth 2 feet thick. In the middle of 
the fioor is a triangular fireplace. Other pits were found in the vicin¬ 
ity and fragments of pottery, but the pottery is said to differ from that 
found in Yezo. The points of difference I have been unable to learn. 

The Aleuts build also over excavations in the earth, erecting a frame¬ 
work of wood over which they pile a covering of sods. The entrance to 
such dwellings is through a low passage along which one must crawl. 

When the Japanese obtained the Kurile Islands from Kussia in ex¬ 
change for Saghalin, they determined to transfer the few inhabitants 
they found there to a more accessible spot. They selected the island of 
Shikotan, and although the peo])le did not wish to change their abode, 
a steamer was sent to take them away, and thus a colony of about one 
hundred persons was established on Shikotan. This island is situated 
nearly east of the extreme eastern limit of Yezo and south of Kunashiri. 
It is small, mountainous, not of much importance, and difficult to 
reach. 

Professor Milne was the first to tell me of these people, but he had 
not seen them. At Nemuro I made inquiries about them and resolved 

"^Trails. Seismological Soc. of Japan, ix, 1886, pp. 127, 128. 





Report of National Museum, 1890.—Hitchcock. 


Plate LXXV 



Village of Shikotan, General View. 












; St ; 


- V ' f. * 

\ 


* I 


r V . 


^ V r ^ 


*•. 


t 

(. 


-.1 f 

.. •* i 



»ri - * ( 


: .T 


« 




7f 


'I “ 
*»• 1 




f ^•'■i 


1 

It . ^ . 


4 


T > 


,4 


. *’>^1 

Ail.; 




V-.\ 



' -* 
m -V 

»■- “"• 

- 

• ' • • 1 . 

» /l . 

V ► 

* . ' * 

;,C -4 ^■ 

■ VV'- V’' 


> 

■ 



1 

, 4 * ■ . 

• ^ ^ '1 

fcs. 

X : 

t 



1 • 

-' / r - - : 

\ 




; ‘i- r 




rJ 


iS'a' 


• ' ' ^47 , ■* . 

^■,'^i 'X/" 

* *‘* • Z • • ‘. * ’ 

!i ■' j *' ^ •VI' 

• - . ' ■ w . •Sii.r ^ - 


■:%. J.'/: ■■ir' 

Z-' . ?<3r* V.,-- ■ 

if; -’i'iK 

W0*^' 


V." ■ •(■* 


■'i.' * '-'■ • 

tEffijaS-r 


. BWLf ' .. V ' * 

SPv .Sv 






1 ^ S' .'•'/■>/ 

■''*.. , ■■„. ^.v,, ■ .3. ■' v' 

: i > • . • ; 

St 


' r . r'**- ' ' * 

» ;• 


?*i 6 ' apB'v^. “ 


... .''S’- ■^,^-': 

-a ■ ' -^v.-.V .:,: ,,^ , -u 

ysW^-'S . *•• I. A'‘-■ • ^/ rx , ,v- ' ' < ■•' 

Sv ■■•''• C' ■ ■ .' --sLv/'aa -• 'r. ‘/'’ 


"" m 




i-v'.t -a., ;• 

• ' '*'*■ ' I 44 ''^ 

e & dm ■ ■' 'At 

1. Ra .k' . ' / . .r^*' 


S '• .'■- 


fc■*‘V;xjk;^<. ■'' ^ 

,, '■ ' . - 
''^ ^•'''' ■ .;S ' '.«■ ■''- 

X - • - vLV'J'^SSiJx.v -/ * • 


v>< 


7 ?^/^ 


'^P 'Ki-'V' 










s^A'f:/ A''' . ■ '• ■ 

Vr..y-S.'‘"-» . ;. .?■■ 

■-r '-.V , ^ ^ 

i .•, ■ ttr... 




' ' ' , • ■■> 


»• . . 

. It. 

, I 





.X-'V. 

, -V-- ■,,.?■<* ,. 

.. 

v,- 

f 

‘I • - ; r 

•1 . t * 

V /' *' 

• * 


‘Xj. 


J 


i\ 


V f 


* 


% i - 


•• 'u' 


t J .,. l' ^ * 

iSll/-SAwb*:v . : ■ 


it* / 


S'S T ''“ '■■ ^ s 'i* >v/'' ■ • 

-^•-* , ..i 4 „s,;srs 


& alkk 







423 


THE ANCIENT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO. 

to visit them if possible. My Japanese servant bargained for a native 
lishing-boat to carry me over, and tlie lowest price offered was $30 for 
the trip. In such a craft the trip would not be without danger, and it 
might be a voyage of either a day or a week. Fortunately I had already 
made the accpiaintance of two other foreigners who were traveling for 
pleasure and observation, and as we happened to be together in Nemuro, 
they had become interested in my proposed visit to Shikotan. But the 
tishing-boat plan did not seem to be well received by either of them. M. 
Lereiix, chef de mnsiqne at Tokio, one day hailed me on the street with 
the news that in four days a steamer was going to Yeterof and would 
stop for ns at Shikotan. Mr. Odium, a botanist, joined us, and at 3:45 
a. m., on August 9, the Yoshinomaru with her three foreign passengers 
and a load of salt for the fisheries of Yeterof*, steamed from lier anchor¬ 
age in the harbor. I was on deck before sunrise, but already we were 
out on the heaving water. Toward the south the terraced shores of Yezo 
could be dimly traced as far as the eye could reach. Toward the north 
the volcanic range of the Menashi Peninsula was capped with snow. At 
half-past eight we were abreast of Kuuashiri at the point where Ohia-chia 
towers as a regular volcanic cone and slopes on one side in graceful, un¬ 
broken concave to the sea. Shikotan had already been sighted and now 
lay close at hand on the starboard bow, while Yeterof was visible in the 
distance. But it was noon before we anchored in the harbor, entering 
through a beautiful narrow passage between high, bold, gray cliff's of 
sandstone, concealed here and there with patches of green. Within 
lies a quiet bay with a verdant valley, inclosed on every hand by moun¬ 
tains and brush covered hills. 

The settlement (Plate lxxv) consists of eighteen houses arranged on 
opposite sides of a single street which runs directly back from the sandy 
beach. The number of inhabitants is at present uncertain—one in¬ 
formant told us sixty, another sixty-five. They are in appearance a 
well-formed, hardy people, but they are fast dying off*. Subsisting on 
the most miserable food, bulbous roots, green tops of plants, and a pit¬ 
tance of rice from the Japanese CTOvernment; not properly clothed, and 
unable to obtain the fish and other things which in their native isles were 
so abundant, disease, especially consumption, has made fearful havoc 
among them. In five years their number has decreased one-third. The 
Japanese are now trying to better their condition, but past neglect has 
done its work. The people can not subsist without aid where they 
now live, and in any event they will soon disappear from the face of 
the earth. The picture of the group here shown (Plate Lxxvi) is 
probably the only one ever made of these people. It was taken on the 
beach just below the Japanese official residence, which is conspicuous 
in the picture. In the background may be seen many plain slabs mark¬ 
ing the final resting-places of many poor souls who succumbed to the 
privations of a few years in a home not of their own choosing. It will 
be noticed that the people are clothed in European dress. This is be- 


424 


JREPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 


cause they hav^e so long been under Kussian influences. In winter they 
are accustomed to dress in skins, but whether they are able to j)rovide 
themselves with such warm clothing from the resources of Shikotan is 
very doubtful. 

The character of the dwellings will be more clearly understood from 
the illustrations than from any words of description. In a general way 
it may be said that each dwelling is composed of two parts, a front, 
thatched house, occupied in summer, and a winter earth house connected 
with the former by a covered passage. 

The thatched house very much resembles the houses of the Ainos. 
Plate Lxxvii represents a view along the village street. There is the low 
front part used for storage and as a hail or passage-way, and the mam 
portion which constitutes the living room. This room is usually nearly 
sipiare, with a low door in front and a small door at the back opening 
into the passage which leads to the winter house. A good general view 
of a well-made house, and of the passage behind, is shown in Plate 
Lxxviii. Entering from the front we find in the main room a rude and 
very dirty floor of boards, raised six inches from the ground, leaving a 
small inclosed space near the entrance from which one may step up on 
to the floor. There is a large, rectangular firei)lace sunk in the floor 
about the middle, on which pieces of wood fitfully burn and fill the house 
with smoke. The rafters and crossbeams are covered with a shiny 
coating ol oily soot. There is a smoke-hole in the roof, but only the 
excess of smoke escapes. There are usually two small w indows, one on 
each side, perhaps a foot square, and on one side a raised bunk with 
high side boards. 

Above the fire hangs a Japanese iron pot containing a more or less 
unsavory stew. The pot is coated with accumulated deposits within 
and soot without, and is probably never washed, if it is ever quite emp¬ 
tied . 

Around the walls hang articles of clothing, such as fur-lined gloves 
and shoes of fish-skiu, rude baskets, skins of small animals, strips of 
hide for thongs, articles of dried fruit, etc. 

The winter house is of greater interest, because it probably represents 
the early pit-dwellings of Yezo. One of my pictures (Plate Lxxix) 
shows two such houses standing alone. These are at the upper end of 
the village, and they are the only ones not connected with thatched 
houses. As will be seen, they are dome-shaped mounds of earth, with 
windows and a sort of chimney. Usually there is one such mound, 
sometimes there are two, back of a thatched house, as will be under¬ 
stood by a glance at the next plate, which represents a view of the 
backs of the houses, showing the earth-dwellings attached. 

The mounds are built over shallow excavations or pits in the ground 
about 12 to 18 inches deep. A plan of one of the dwellings (Fig. 65) 
shows the approximate size and proportions of the different rooms. 
The room of the earth-covered house on the left measured 2 metres wide? 



Report of National Museum, 1 890.—Hitchcock. 


Plate LXXVII 



Street Scene, Shikotan 






















I- 


' * 


, **. 


■ :■ 




* 


y 




*= \ 


• * * 


*■ 

.A * ,<♦.>*• ^ .. » 

»■ •. 




* ^. 
v':^ ; 


t . 




k *4 


I * ' t 

’A • 


»' 

# 


4 

1 ^ 


* V, y ■ ‘ ■ -• «>j •• 'V ' 

,v. ^ V-•---V ■ •" •<’'■ :• ' 


•A 


- . « 


» > .* » . <- • • . V -» , 

C V # • I - % * 

• 

0 I 

' i 


♦ i. ^ 

• ^ 


V i 




I i 


»\ % 4 . 

C'^ 


• 4 


. \ 


' > ■ 


-V 

*> 


•■. ■’V-- .s-^El#;-, ' 

♦ iir .1, d ^ 4 ^ ' k ^ J** ' !• ^ * 


u> < 


A 

I ft 


yf 

«• 


* ^ 
4 « 


K°: 


ifi 




'.\." 


t I 


•w't ■• .. • 


* :%x 


t '.» 




ft. 


» V 


il 




•/ 


/ < 


.. ' y • .£. ^ fi' 'A* * '' -• w- 

f ■* . M :-. '': i'‘ v-\' -S' 

*’ ifc. ^ ■ ■' i. • A -i. 

Hr : :»r 


.., ■• ■'. '■*;'C *'■ -■"* I 

■ , < -l; .• T .- >n • ■*.-'/ 




• ♦* •• 

^ I 


1 * 


• I 


• t 




r 

V f 



"■ ff 




*- •» 


• • 

r, ■ 










T • -r./- . ;-r > ;v. i . -- 

■*-' .*> ' ■*'■ ■■ ' 

b*V'"' •■v^iV'v 



'•v 
VT* 


V^Y 

*•>. f ■/ 


I* • 


' f.'’»'-c-;c-^ ^»^• 1. ■. 

. \ t-'. ^ ' .. < ' ■ >• • A . 


I.- 

Ir' 






K -v ' 

M • ^ 

v-'- V 


V • ' ‘r*. 


»\ • " 
¥■ ^^'V. 


*•**1 •* 


-i ' v'-.=■ , ...'V,-'',, ', 

uj - ' r^'.-Vy-* ' ‘'•■^ ' • ' t//*^'*'** f "1,^ 

^ D*, ^ ^«3 

!•■./.> ' • t*. ' ^ }*^ 1^ VSi 

V' ibiB 





i 

'. p 




,., » f 


' ►. 'J. 


-t...' 


■■ •• 

« 

r- ft 


I- < 






J 


v 


•*■ • 


•' ftv- 

■ 


ft* ». 


# ^ 



■./ 


• ft 


. v:« 






'V * 


ft. <4 


•> ♦ 



^ r... 

- ■ '"'■bJ '"'• ■■ ‘V ' - 

4 ,**^f [< 4,/*‘'*5 

■' ■ ' '■■ ,.• 


. ’•‘■--..V f> 


* • 

N ftf ft ft 



/ -.\< r.j„ 


Report of National Museum, 1890.—Hitchcock. 


Plate LXXVIII. 



Thatched House and Passage-way, Shikotan. 



















• • < 


r r^' ‘ 


I . 'r.fj 


y 






■tf. 


.'A 


f 5,J 


* I 


V 









• i% ^ * 

f • 'i » * 

• ^ ^ 

I' Hr ' * 

CD. ’- •. ■' 


• A 


C 9 


- r 


h- 


>1. 


■AV * . - tS *1^ 4- •’'•t-' 

I . \* ▼ .« * * 


‘/T 





■ 


>* 


. 'A 





i/> 


V » 


f* 


•t-'r, . * ' *31#, . 

'll- ♦*4*’ M J. - X» “V .. . ,• .,V H 

' -f » ■' . * . • ju • ■..,♦•'•'**■ ^'A 

■• - Ar * t f V-, . -v f •-!••. ■,,,; -J 

'. - is.- ’itmit ^■ • '•/.v. -ir • «'.. j! 


I 





A V 'i-X 


I.** ♦*" * ■ 


-• 










. / 




0' t 




» . >.. 


r ■'» . . ‘i^ . • * 

'of -s/w 'T ^- 4 . 4 . 

/i^ T ^ • 





'h vv.ii-» - -r 






? • ^ 4 


rs£ 


. i 


. f 


I Z' 


t ,» 

« I 


'• *.■’*'' W-*.... 







<r ••.■■-_ 

JJ 

■ »i ‘ -f* 






,r;' 


* ' 


i^y* *. 

k iiT„ 


4# I 4** 


?r' 


f' 

' 9 .r 


jC 

» •i 

’f:*. 

’I 




i'“ ‘ A* * "^-ii * • - 

■ - 

t .. '•- 


4r' .^' 




IV - ^ 




■/. -•I 


• I 



At 


^ ,• ■ 


•H X 

» ♦ 


4$ 1 

f. ».> 


>? « 


f ■■ 


. I'i s- ,♦ 


'< * 


V# 


lA > 


■ . 


P 


i.t 




r 


4 « 




9 


•I 


I ^ 


r 


/ ^ 

, ) 


_ iA 




i ’ ‘ . ft . ■ * i : ■( . ■ ' ' 

V‘ ' • * ‘.;. ' ■ • * . ' ’ . •• ’ t ' 

^ I c ^ ®JMl - ’i i 


• ; ■*' ^ ■•'vj#- ;W.:% 

F'' , # A ^ ' .■''^"4,1. 


'Jf 


V S. 

I M 


r. 




7i;' 

.v-r ' 




^ - - '‘‘H 

r J .v Tv 


:• * 


'■f 


#. 


I » 




Mt 


1- 

. ^ 


I 


’ I « 


ill 


/ I 




^ V: 


yv 




> i 


*<' '.V* *• 

■ ././'* 

fc ^ V 




^ A 

i"w 


»J| yf 14 ., ; 

^ \}’ir ti 


/ * 




*,'■ » 


(ita. 


!i •.* »r.i 




■ 






i>*:-- '> 

f 4 


f # • f i' > fW'i ♦ ^ . , 

-. ■ L, - [^- '-r.'-'T 


/ < 


:.y? 






<• 






Report of National Museum 1890_Hitchcock 


Plate LXXIX 



Earth Houses, Shikotan 













THE ANCIENT PIT-DWELLERS OF YEZO. 


425 


2.25 metres deep, and 1.30 metres from the floor to the highest part of 
the ceiling. The beds were simply bunks, 38 centimetres from the floor 
and 60 centimetres wide. The entrance is through a small, low door¬ 



way from the covered passage. This passage may run quite across the 
back of the thatched house and extend some distance beyond it, as in 
the house shown in Plate lxxx, which is the one from which the plan is 
drawn. As one descends into the hut, it seems very damj) and gloomy. 
There is nothing to be seen but the bare floor, the sleeping bunks on the 
sides, and the fireplace made by piling up Tounded stones in one corner. 

I have expressed the belief that these Shikotan huts are the modern 
representatives of the ancient pit-dwellings of Yezo. Perha[)s it will 
be very difificult, or even impossible, to prove this connection; cer¬ 
tainly the huts I saw were much smaller than many of the pits of Yezo, 
but I do not know what kind of a pit would be left by the falling in of 
one of these houses. 1 should think, after weathering a few years, it 
might not be very unlike the pils. On the other hand, it may be that 
the people, having learned to build better above ground, no longer 
require such large and deep subterranean huts as in the past, and that 
these shallow excavations are but survivals of the old plan of construc¬ 
tion, which is no longer useful. However this may be, it would seem 
that the ancient pit-dwellers were driven from Yezo, perhaps by the 
Ainos, to the Kuriles, for the pits can be traced through Yeterof, and 
perhaps in the smaller islands beyond. The existence of the pits in 
Yeterof, the finding by Professor Milne of a small remnant of people 

































426 


REPORT OF NATIONAL MlTSEUxM, 1800. 


on tlie same cliain of islands who build houses over pits, and the find¬ 
ing of still others on Shikotan, may be fairly taken to indicate a con¬ 
nection between the peoi)le who dug the ancient pits and those who 
live in such dwellings at the present time. 

There was very little to collect in the wa> of specimens to represent 
the people. M. Leroux was so fortunate as to find a single musical 
instrument of the form represented in Fig. GO. Not another could be 



Fig. 66. 

Musical Instrument, Shikotan. 


found of the same shape, which will be recognized as of Russian design. 
The people were making others of different shape, evidently in imitation 
of the Japanese samisen. 

Fig. 67 represents a carrying band used by women to carry their chil- 



Fig. 67. 

Caurtinq Band. Shikotan. 

dren on the back. The child sits in a curved wooden seat, and the band 
is passed over the chest of the bearer. 

We left Shikotan towards evening, bound for Yeterof. The rocky 
bluffs rose clear and sharp behind us, soon to be shrouded in a veil of 








f?eport of National Museum, 1890,— Hitchcock. 


Plate LXXX 



View behind Houses, Shikotan 






THE ANCIENT PiT-DWELLERS OF YE20. 


427 


mist, which in this region is constantly forming and reforming with 
endless changes in the scenery of shore and mountain. Early next 
morning we arrived at Shiana, a small tishiug-station on the island, 
where a lew Ainos and Japanese were found. At noon we were on 
board ready to start again, when suddenly a dense fog shut in around 
and held us, damp, cold, and miserable, in the little steamer until mid¬ 
night. At half-past five the next morning we anchored at Bettobii, where 
we visited the pits already described, and then returned to Nemuro. 


-Jiti 






i'lh .: 

v-t ‘ 



•' ■' 

■4'v;' . 

.'i ' * • I ^ 

• » -^ * • *Zj ( 







r ’• 





■ ;S'' .' '■ -■ '■ .,.• ■ ‘ 




.•> 


•« «*TL. '. • 


'.• . * 


■■ v’N • U 

' . 'ft *•, ‘ ^ iZM 

'. esb' • mT RV!:: 



i.: 


V ». 




• ^ 







• ' ' ‘ ‘i. -^ '* 


• ' * ❖ ' '. , . . «r> 


• •- I . 



4 ft 



» *, 


11J • 


' (. ' 


•> *'-■ ' •*' '.f 

r ’ *i* ‘ , V. 

■ ■ i ^■'' 




f 


-.» 







rW.., 











'1 




.•WlV 

ft 



^ ** ft* 


• ft ft » 

‘ ■■*d- '-. ''-ft 




. r 


r.‘ 




.i. 


I 


^ i 




s 


>'4 


'1 


y . 









// 




«kH 


S£5 



} i ft 


* # 

■'-^ -4. 


$ # 




j 


.f ■• 





' 1 















Ik. 


I 

I 









LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 


041 323 727 0 







